As a journalist who covers religion and ethnic diversity, I strive to respect spiritual people and everyone else.
Like others, I have been offended by things people say about religious figures, as well as about philosophers and politicians I happen to believe have integrity.
Almost everything is open to mockery in Western secular society.
Especially religion. Remember the American artist behind “Piss Christ,“ who plunged a crucifix in a giant jar of his ... Read More …

One religion is built around a Middle Eastern peasant teacher executed at a young age, often depicted dying on a cross.
The other is based on an Indian prince who became an elder sage; often shown seated cheerfully in the Lotus position.
Christianity and Buddhism often seem to come from utterly different worlds.
But perhaps this is only a superficial snapshot. If we bring other lenses to Buddhism and Christianity, we find connections.
They include ... Read More …

A Chinese university has banned Christmas, calling it a “kitsch” Western festival Chinese that people should stop “fawning over.”
The news about the university’s Christmas ban hit yesterday, four days after my Saturday feature appeared on how ethnic Chinese people in Metro and around the world mark Christmas.
My piece included a look at how intellectuals in China, including some writing for Canadian think tanks, view Christmas as a “cultural invasion” by the West, ... Read More …

“We’re not bodiless beings in the world.”
Lois Huey-Heck has devoted much of her life to putting the body back into spirituality.
She’s often in motion, though not in a distracted way: She’s a leader of sacred movement practices.
Centred in Christianity but open to the wisdom of other paths, Huey-Heck belongs to an informal global network that is reviving the “embodied prayer” of ancient Western and Eastern traditions.
Maintaining most Christian churches have elevated ... Read More …

“The Christmas spirit is awesome,” Candy Kung says.
She gets to “hang out and bond” with her family, share presents and enjoy lights sparkling on Christmas trees.
The holiday is purely secular fun and excitement for Kung and her friend, Lauren Ma. Kung didn’t know Christmas has its roots in Christianity.
The two 18-year-olds are drinking ice-milk tea in the Chinese-themed Aberdeen Centre mall in Richmond, where O Come All Ye Faithful rings out from ... Read More …

This press release was sent to journalists (like me) by a prominent Indianapolis promotional agency, called Author Publicity Services, which is part of The Bohlsen Group. Apparently Bohlsen Group is affiliated with Penguin Random House publishers.
I am speechless. The things that publicity companies will do for their paying {delusional} clients.
This is what was sent to my Sun email late last week, titled, “Preparing for the rapture – One man claims it is quickly ... Read More …

Archbishop Michael Miller is the single most influential religious leader in British Columbia.
As the head of the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Vancouver, he is responsible for more than 430,000 people who consider themselves, at least nominally, as Catholics.
He was born in Ottawa on July 9, 1946. He began training for the priesthood as a teenager and served many years in the Vatican before coming to Vancouver. He is the author of seven books.... Read More …

Jesus and Buddha have high approval ratings among British Columbians.
The founders of Christianity and Buddhism both receive strongly favourable rankings in B.C. and Metro Vancouver, according to an Easter poll conducted for The Vancouver Sun.
Two of the best-known living leaders in Christianity and Buddhism — Pope Francis and the Dalai Lama — also win top approval ratings from B.C. residents.
First in a three-part series on this exclusive poll on religion and morality... Read More …

{To skip this introduction and jump to the top 15 movies related to Jesus — scroll down.}
To many Canadians it still stands as the greatest story ever told.
The dramatic life and grim death of Jesus of Nazareth is the source of arguably the most important narrative in Canada, since the census shows 67 per cent of Canadians still describe themselves as Christians (55 per cent in B.C.).
A majority of Canadians maintain a ... Read More …

One of the most popular images of Jesus today is a painting of him laughing.
It’s been used or adapted by countless Christian organizations, as well as some non-Christian and even New Age groups.
There are now many versions of “Laughing Jesus” all over the Internet, most of them based on the original image of a long-haired man, with his head thrown back in full-throated laughter.
The original image that was first created 40 years ... Read More …

Ken Shigematsu is easily distracted. Especially at Christmas time.
“It’s like a thousand chimpanzees jumping around in my head at any moment,” says the head pastor at Tenth Church, a large congregation in central Vancouver.
So Shigematsu prays. Or should we say he meditates? The Japan-born Christian pastor uses the words prayer and meditation interchangeably.
They form the heart of his practice of spiritual contemplation, which he believes helps him and others connect with the ... Read More …

UPDATE: Video added. More info. below.)
Anna Hazare’s home in a village in India is smaller than the hotel room in which we met in Vancouver.
But somehow, this unassuming 75-year-old man in all-white dress has the power to persuade millions of Indians to take to the streets to protest rampant corruption in the world’s second most populous nation.
Hazare — whose main weapon is the hunger strike — is in Vancouver to receive ... Read More …

Popular U.S. political satirist Stephen Colbert quoted one of my postings last night on his comedy show. It’s quite the honour (as we spell it in Canada).
Colbert was drawing attention to my recent posting headlined: Destruction of Syria welcomed by apocalyptic Christians.
Colbert picked up on the blog item to mock those ultra-conservative Christians who take literally alleged Biblical prophecies that Jesus will return to Earth — to condemn sinners and save born-again Christians ... Read More …

As I turned to my right to leave one of the big galleries and head into the long hallway in the Belkin Gallery, I noticed the deep red velvet hanging on the wall. Tucked into an alcove, it looked luxurious and inviting. Hanging in front was a screen with a video playing.
It showed one woman washing another. The one being washed was in an old-fashioned corrugated metal tub – of the kind that ... Read More …

UPDATE: U.S. SATIRIST STEPHEN COLBERT QUOTES THIS POSTING ON HIS SEPTEMBER 18th SHOW.
“Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city and will become a heap of ruins.” – Isaiah 17.1
As if the Syrian crisis is not horrible and complicated enough, Biblical literalists in the United States, Canada and elsewhere are adding another tragic dimension.
They see the looming destruction of the Syrian city of Damascus as a sign of the return of Jesus ... Read More …

‘God’s movin’ in this place. I am undone. I’ve got tears flowin.’ I’ve got snot comin’ out of my nose. God, we can be undignified with you. Knowin’ our indignity is all for you.”
Pastor Rico Galindez is shaking in front of about 500 people who are praying and swaying in the near-dark sanctuary of Cedar Grove Baptist Church in north Surrey.
It’s Sunday morning and Galindez, one of 10 pastors at the giant church, ... Read More …

U.S. Christians as a whole tend to stand out from other Christians around the world — in part because there are so many evangelicals among them. And evangelicals are the Christians most likely — by a long shot — to believe Jesus will probably return to Earth in the next 40 years.
Just before Easter, the Pew Forum has released data showing almost six out of 10 white evangelicals in the U.S. think Jesus ... Read More …

The great new documentary, Marley, contains one extended historical scene that is hard to get out of my head, since I follow the history of religion. It shows, in black-and-white video, the time in 1966 when the late Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie travelled to Jamaica and receives a Messiah’s reception.
The film about Bob Marley is eye-opening and entrancing. It details the life and times of a man I think is the world’s most ... Read More …

My uncle and aunt seemed kind of frosty toward Christmas.
George and Janet Fox didn’t have children. They were atheists. And due to their own chilly upbringings, they tended to poke fun at feelings they deemed sentimental.
Even though uncle George and aunt Janet were liked by friends and family in British Columbia, they regularly disappeared at Christmas, heading to California to be alone over the holidays.
So, after they died, I had a bit ... Read More …